KAZAN, Russia — Katie Ledecky won the 200-meter freestyle at the world swimming championships Wednesday night against a stellar field that included the defending champion, Missy Franklin, and the two-time winner Federica Pellegrini.
Ledecky, an 18-year-old American, rallied from fourth after the first two laps to touch first in 1 minute 55.16 seconds for her third gold medal of the championships. Ledecky also won the 400 free and the 1,500 free, in which she lowered her own world record in the preliminaries and final.
Pellegrini of Italy finished second in 1:55.32, and Franklin was third in 1:55.